A group of researchers have found that a drug that was generally taken to treat diabetes patients has the ability to improve the memory as well.
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, while working on genetically engineered mice to study Alzheimer's found that when these mice were treated with the anti-insulin-resistance drug rosiglitazone, which is generally used to treat diabetes, it enhanced their memory and learning abilities.
In patients suffering from Alzheimer', a molecule, scientifically known as extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)becomes hyperactive. The intake of rosiglitazone brings ERK clams this hyperactivity in the brain by activating what's known as the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) pathway.
"Using this drug appears to restore the neuronal signaling required for proper cognitive function," said UTMB professor Larry Denner, the lead author of a paper describing this work now online in the Journal of Neuroscience.
"It gives us an opportunity to test several FDA-approved drugs to normalize insulin resistance in Alzheimer's patients and possibly also enhance memory, and it also gives us a remarkable tool to use in animal models to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie cognitive issues in Alzheimer's."
Denner was happy that he had the opportunity to work with a diverse group of experts during the course of this study. This makes it easier for the entire team to work together and move on to more advance stages of the study.
"We were extraordinarily lucky to have this diverse group of experts right here on our campus at UTMB that could coalesce to bring such different ways of thinking to bear on a common problem," Denner said. "It was quite a challenge to get all of these experts communicating in a common scientific language. But now that we have this team working, we can move on to even more detailed and difficult questions."
